The 'Journal' 1st regional paper to print here
The 'Journal' 1st regional paper to print here
JAKARTA (JP): The Asian Wall Street Journal (AWSJ) rolled its
presses in Jakarta for the first time on Monday, thereby becoming
the first regional newspaper to print in the city.
The AWSJ, printed by PT Gramedia, will now reach its readers
in Jakarta and the surrounding areas in the morning like any
other local newspaper, publisher and executive editor Urban
Lehner said yesterday.
Previously Indonesia had been served from the Singapore
printing plant and the paper delivered in Jakarta in the late
afternoon.
"The reason for printing here is that business news is timely
and needs to be presented to readers in a timely fashion. If we
have the paper late in the day or the next day it losses some of
its values and we want to serve readers better by giving it to
them in the morning," he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
But Lehner noted that by printing here, the AWSJ would not be
in competition with any local papers because his paper was doing
something different from what local papers were doing.
Local papers, he said, quite naturally concentrated on local
news, while the AWSJ focused on the whole Asian region.
Thus, those who want to watch what is happening in Indonesia
would not go to the AWSJ but to local papers. Only those who are
interested in what is happening in the business community around
the region would go first to the AWSJ.
"So, we are doing something which actually complements local
papers," Lehner said.
He said the AWSJ was entering Indonesia with a long-term
commitment and therefore "it is very important for us to be first
among regional newspapers to be printed in Jakarta."
In addition to the AWSJ, the government under President B.J.
Habibie has also given a green light to the International Herald
Tribune to print and market here.
The decision marks the first time the government has allowed
foreign media to print in Indonesia.
The domestic media industry is closed to foreign investors
under Indonesian law.
The distribution of foreign publications here, excluding
Japanese media, is dominated by the privately owned NV Indoprom.
The distribution of the locally printed AWSJ would still be
carried out by NV Indoprom, Lehner said.
He said the AWSJ's circulation had grown by some 8 percent
annually for the past six years. Current audited daily
circulation in Indonesia (January to June 1998) stands at 2,879
copies.
The Jakarta print site is the ninth for the AWSJ.
It is published in Hong Kong and printed there and via satellite
link in Singapore, Tokyo, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Taipei
and Manila. (rid)